Tough Love- The Continuance
by Wunduful-White-Rappa-15
Summary: Rebekah was away for a little over a year, and tensions in Mori's head have grown taut. But now that she's back, not only does she have to try getting along with the other girl in the host club, but she'll have to encounter some NEW and OLD acquaintances as well! What will happen when she returns from her family business trip? Rated M for later chapters. MoriXOC
1. Chapter 1

Seven boys sat quietly in the third music room, awaiting something interesting. Haruhi, a girl in disguise, studied in the corner for her math test the next day. The tall blonde, Tamaki, played a handheld video game determinedly, distracting the girl occasionally to notify her of his success. A pair of identical, symmetrical twins sat opposite him, also playing a game. Kyoya, the handsome mastermind of the group, sat at a separate table than the rest, writing things in a black book and punching numbers in a calculator. A small blonde dozed on a couch, covered by a blanket, holding a pink stuffed bunny. There was also me, a dark haired boy who sat silently, reading a newspaper.

Or so it appeared. I had a paper up and ready to read, but I couldn't focus my eyes on moving. I couldn't focus on anything at all. _Tomorrow_, was all I could think, _Tomorrow is the day_.

Every once in a while, my leg shook slightly, giddy to get away from the host club for a bit. I sighed sometimes, wishing that the clock would stop ticking by so slowly.

Haruhi looked up from her studies as I huffed loudly again. "Uh... Mori-senpai," I looked up from the same page I'd been staring at for 20 minutes, "Erm, are you alright? You seem a bit... Jumpy... Today. Is there something you're expecting?" My eyes widened slightly in shock, _How can she tell_? My cheeks turned a bit pink.

"No. It's nothing." I turned my blushing face back to the newspaper.

"Oh, I see. Okay then..." She turned back to her studies, but the other boys gasped and looked up at me.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Hikaru shouted, and looked at Kaoru.

Kaoru shouted back, "THE OURAN FAIR WAS LAST WEEK! THAT MEANS-" They gripped the sides of their heads and shouted in perfect unison,

"SHE'S COMING BACK SOON!"

They stood and fist pumped the air joyfully.

Tamaki stood up and started pacing quickly, "You're right boys! And if Mori-senapi is so jittery, it must be either today or tomorrow! AHA! YOU WERE TRYING TO KEEP IT SECRET FROM US!" He whipped around to me, pointing a finger in accusation.

I stood, keeping a straight, yet horrifying face, "Of course I was." The melodramatic blonde shrunk back from me a little bit.

"Oh..."

Kyoya didn't look up from crunching his numbers, "Her flight arrives at 3 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Mori-senpai was going to go there alone to pick her up, most likely to get some alone time before she got bombarded by you nutcases." I felt like I was going to be sick. _Well, I_ thought, _there goes that._

I set the paper down and walked over to the door. "M-Mori-senpai, where are you going?" Tamaki's head flipped between Honey-senpai and I, still slumbering on his couch.

"To tell her to catch a different flight." I responded without turning my head. I left the door open behind me.

The boys and Haruhi sat silently for a moment, save for Kyoya and Honey, staring at the door in despiration.

Haruhi spoke first, "Is he... Really going to leave us... With Honey-senpai!?" She twitched with the idea, unsure if she could handle that.

I stepped lightly down the hallway, turned a few corners to lose myself, and pulled out my phone. I selected _New Message_ and typed in her name. I wasn't sure if she'd respond, she rarely kept her phone with her, since she was on business. Sighing, I typed it out anyways.

_Think you'll make your flight? It's okay if you get a different one. I'll be there no matter what._

To my happy surprise, she responded almost immediately.

_Of course, silly! I'm packing now, though, so I'll have to talk to you later so I can get this done. I love you! Can't wait to get back! :) 3_

My heart beat. It was almost like talking to her straight. I sighed. _It's going to be a pain, with all of them around._ My mind flickered to Haruhi. _She'd be good friends with her, right? I think so..._ I continued my distracted walk, trying to think of how they'd get along, when I heard my name being called. I lifted my head slowly, trying to find the source of the caller. A girl in a bright yellow dress was waving at me enthusiastically. I huffed silently and closed my eyes in frustration. I was so tired of the host club girls... I just wanted _my_ girl back.

I walked toward her anyway, not wanting to upset her, always eager to please. "Good afternoon, Mori-senpai! You look tired today, is something wrong?" Her eyes looked worried underneath her baby bangs. I avoided her face and stared instead at the small green head-band she used as an accessory. She'd even used that last year...

"No... Just tired." I smiled and continued on my way, leaving her standing a little ways away from her friends. I walked to the school's garden, something most people didn't know was there, and sat on a bench deep in the middle of it.

I closed my eyes and let my mind wander to the days I'd walked with her through here... Days when we didn't worry about anything... Sadly, there was only one day I'd ever actually sat on this bench... The day after our Tokyo trip. My face heated up at just the thought of that night. It was so perfect... _She_ was so perfect... I opened my eyes and stood up. I'd have to get back to the hosts soon... Luckily, I could stand the thought of it by repeating to myself silently, _She comes back tomorrow, she comes back tomorrow, she comes back tomorrow..._

~BlubububububububububTIMEFAST FORWARDBlububububububububub~

My bag slipped off my shoulder as the hurried man I was passing hit me. I slid it back into place, holding it down as I wedged myself between the crowds of people. Wearing a cut-off tee and jeans, I stood out among all the men and women clad in business suits and work clothes. A random hand grasped mine, and I whipped my head to see Mitskuni, hoping I'd hold his hand so he wouldn't get lost. He stuck out just as much as I did, and reminded me that sadly, so did the four other boys and the girl trailing behind us.

All of us were dressed casually, Haruhi allowing herself some time to dress like a girl. Tamaki dragged her along like an enthusiastic child. It was clear that they felt strongly for each other, though neither had the guts to make it official. Then again, I hadn't much room to talk, I'd needed the _twins' _help to make my own relationship official... And that had ended in an engagement! So maybe it's not such a bad thing after all, huh?

The crowd thinned with every step we took toward arrivals. _Hm_, I thought, _Looks like she caught a not-so-packed flight..._

The rest of the host club sat on the seats provided off to the side of the open space. I stood where I could see the doorway, pretty much in the middle of the walkway. I was so intent on seeing her first that I didn't notice when Kyoya walked up next to me until he cleared his throat.

He pushed his glasses up farther on his nose, "So, you're really going to stare at that door til she gets here, eh?"

"Mmm." I replied. I didn't have much to say when she was away. I was, believe it or not, more talkative around her.

He chuckled slightly, "Well, you have fun with that. I'll be in the cafe we passed on the way here. Have someone holler if they need me." I thought about why he would tell me if he knew I was focused on seeing her. Then I realized that if he tells only me, he won't be disturbed at all. Smart guy.

I glanced down at my watch, 3:04 pm. Any minute now...

Then I saw her. I'd almost forgotten just how breathtakingly beautiful she really was. Her hair was wound up in a messy bun, but her bangs hung over her face like a shining brown curtain. She wasn't wearing makeup, but her eyes still shone like turquoise. She wore a tight hoodie and very loose, plush pajama pants. They had Hello Kitty stitched on them. I smiled and started moving toward her, one word escaping my lips as I went,

"Rebekah."


	2. Chapter 2

The flight had been absolutely grueling. There were kinks in my legs, in my neck, in my back... Not to mention I was sore. I'd had a pounding headache for at least an hour(Most likely due to that nasty airplane water...!), a sore butt from sitting for _five_ hours, and a stiff neck from trying to find a comfortable position. I was tired, and frustrated, and had completely forgotten that he said he'd meet me at the arrivals area. I huffed my way down the track, hiking my leather over-the-shoulder bag up a little higher, and brushed my bangs out of my face. I heard something thump ahead of me, along with a strangled word that sounded something like my name.

I looked up, one hand still on my bangs, and stopped dead in my tracks.

The tall, dark boy I remember holding so close somehow seemed so far away- even though he was only a hundred feet away from me, at most. I didn't feel my bag slide off my shoulder. I didn't feel the heat behind my eyes, or the tears that welled up on my eyelids. I didn't even feel my feet begin to move until I started running. I didn't feel the ache in my chest from missing him until I was in his arms, my legs around his waist, surely crushing his neck with the force of my bear hug. I didn't feel any pain when he crushed me back in his arms, nor did I feel the cool air touch my neck where his tears stained it. All I could feel was the warmth and care that flowed from his lips when they met mine a moment later.

He released my mouth, stroking my face with one hand, and letting my forehead rest against his. I'd never seen him cry... Not even when we lost our virginity together... He'd always been strong... I kind of liked that I made him weak like that. It felt like we were locked up in our own little world; that is, until Hikaru and Kaoru tapped us on the shoulder, trying to hand me my bag back.

I blinked, somewhat surprised that I hadn't seen them. I cleared my throat and looked back at Mori, who was avoiding my eyes and the rest of the club's. He carefully set me down, holding my waist to keep me steady. I took my bag from the boys and cleared my throat again.

"Oh... Uh... You guys..." I plastered a fake smile on my face, the horror in my voice clearly ringing through the false happiness, "You all came to see me... How wonderful..." My eyes trailed over to a lone girl, standing at the back of the group, head cocked to the side, wondering who this obviously foreign girl was. "Oh, Takashi," I turned back to Mori, "Who's this?"

"I'm just a friend." The girl said quickly, chuckling in nervousness and bowing her head to hide her face.

"Oh..." I looked at Tamaki, who was blushing, and tried to break the awkwardness. "Uh, Tama-chan! You look taller!" I stepped over to him, carefully circling his neck with my arms. Not nearly as passionately as I'd hugged Takashi, but it was a tight hug nonetheless. What could I say, I'd missed them!

The tension broke like a weak twig. The boys all surrounded me, leaving their female friend out of the loop. I glanced at her a couple times before I lost sight of her, and she was gone with the crowd. All I remember was brown hair and a pink dress. I didn't even see how long her hair was...

An hour later though, that didn't matter. The seven of us sat in a circle around a table in a small cafe near the airport. I sat between Mori's legs, his arms around my middle, sipping coffee and laughing along with the boys about their adventures. They only told a few, and mentioned a boy named Haruhi, apparently a boy who joined the host club but didn't come along, knowing that it may be awkward if I didn't know him.

They told me about chasing him to Karuizawa, going on some Halloween scare fest with him, going to the beach and a waterpark, and much much more- it all sounded pretty fun! _I can't believe I've missed so much!_ I thought to myself. But, was it just me, or did Tamaki perk up a bit when he talked about, what was his name, Haruhi?

As he continued with his tale of how they had a new manager(That was the first thing they told me; apparently she didn't want to meet me because she thought that I'd shoo customers away if I was too lovey on Takashi), Tamaki blushed. He mentioned how Renge(The mentioned manager) thought that he and Haruhi were having a homosexual relationship. I froze, my coffee halfway to my mouth. I was frozen.

While still pretending to listen, I analyzed him. He obviously wasn't denying the relationship, and he didn't seem too embarrassed other than the blush. He definitely wouldn't do that normally... He'd freak out and deny it... An image flashed before my eyes; two boys, sweaty and panting...

I threw my hand over my mouth and squeezed my eyes shut. _NO! NOT AGAIN! I thought I'd gotten over it!_ I let go of my mouth and opened my eyes when Tamaki said my name, trying to get my attention. I smiled nervously.

"Uh... Sorry, hot coffee... Heh heh..." I held it to my lips to keep from saying anything stupid as Tamaki nodded and continued with his story. I looked down to see a drop of blood on the lid of the to-go cup. _Oh no... Not the nosebleeds again... I thought I was done with my yaoi addiction... Ugh... Crap..._ I couldn't focus on the conversation anymore. I snapped my head up, looked Tamaki straight in the eye and asked him, "Tamaki, are you gay?"

The only thing I heard was one of the twins dropping their cup.


	3. Chapter 3

Tamaki's mouth hung open, but his eyes were wider than saucers. A shiver visibly ran down his spine.

"Whu... What... Did you... ask me?"

"I said," Rebekah said slowly, "Are you gay?" She looked like a police officer trying to interrogate someone.

_He'd better be careful... He needs to think this through if he's going to keep Haruhi's secret a, well, a secret. _I thought about the situation to myself. I couldn't say anything, or Rebekah would know we were hiding something. He couldn't overreact, or she'd know he isn't gay. But she was smart enough to see that he clearly loved Haruhi, so she'd know something was up. We were stuck between a rock and a hard place. If Tamaki didn't think about this, Rebekah would know about Haruhi.

So really, it was all up to whether he cared if she knew or not.

"I..." Tamaki started, "I... I MOST CERTAINLY AM NOT!" I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers. There it went.

Peeking through my lashes, I saw Rebekah sit calmly staring at Tamaki- who was basically going nuts- with a focused look on her face. She was trying to piece it all together.

I tried to open my mouth to speak, to fix the slip, but it was too late. Rebekah's eyes snapped open, her mouth dropped, and her mind snapped all the peices together. She knew.

"Then... That would mean..." The twins pinched the bridges of their noses, Kyoya rubbed his temples, and Mitskuni sat a bit straighter, unaware of the reason behind our frustration. "Then Haruhi is... A girl...?"

Tamaki's face froze, his fingers twitching and mouth gaping in shock. "Ah... I..." He squeezed his eyes shut, "Ohhh... I can't believe she figured it out so quickly..."

Kyoya peeked at Tamaki out of one eye, "It's your fault you moron."

"WHAT!? HOW COULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT KYOYA, I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!" He threw his hands around dramatically, attracting the attention of the few other people who had gathered in the cafe.

I squeezed my arms around Bekah, leaning into her neck so that my lips rested near her earlobe. "You know you can't tell anyone. We trust you to do that."

She shivered and smiled. No one was paying attention to us, they were all yelling at Tamaki. "Of course... But you may have to convince me to stay quiet in a specific way if I get too tired of keeping that secret..." She tilted her head back toward me, nuzzling my neck with her nose.

The table was quiet, I looked up to see all of the boys giving us what Rebekah and I call 'the smile'. It's the smile they give us when they know we're being romantic. It's the smile you see on your friends' faces when they see you with your crush, ya know? Except they know more than the fact that she's my crush. The first time we saw it was in Tokyo. We all know what happened there, so I feel no need to elaborate...

I smiled to myself, though I knew my cheekbones were tinged pink with embarrassment. I ignored them, bending to kiss Rebekah's neck where it met her shoulder. "While you're all staring at us creepily," I said without moving, "We face the problem of whether to take this beautiful girl to meet your girl, Tamaki."

That shut him up pretty quick.

Tamaki sulked in his chair, and at the same time, Kyoya took his chance to speak up. "Well, they may as well meet, I mean, they're going to eventually, right? We might as well take this time to get them acquainted."

"NO." I said loudly.

Everyone looked at me, somewhat shocked. Rebekah craned her neck toward me, confused but amused. (Well look at me, I'm the American poet, Doctor Seuss...)

"I just, I had plans is all." And cue 'the smile'. They all thought they knew what I was planning, though I actually didn't want to do what they thought. I mean, I did, more than anything, but that's not what I was planning. Anyway.

"Not what you think. I actually had plans. Legit."

"Legitimately? Like, you had plans to be in PUBLIC with her today?"

"Yes."

"Well then," Kaoru chimed in.

"We'll just have to," Hikaru continued.

In unison: "GO WITH!"

Mitskuni cheered, "Yaaay! Field trip!"

Kyoya smiled and shifted his glasses up on his nose. "I'm up for it. Tamaki?"

"I see no reason why not!" His violet eyes sparked mischeviously, knowing he was going to make it a long day for me.

"You know, they're pumped up now, and we'll have plenty of time to be alone together soon, I see no reason why we shouldn't!" Rebekah thought for a moment, "What ARE we doing today...?" Everyone trained their eyes on me.

"Well... I was thinking..."

I swallowed and continued.

"Wedding planning."


	4. Chapter 4

***GAHHH! Guys I'm so sorry! I'm such a terrible person! DX I took sooo long to write this... You wouldn't believe how much it takes to plan a wedding... ~dazed~ Anyways, here it is! I'll update again soon, kay guys! Thanks for following this pair through! They love you, and so do I! Please review, oh and check out the Tough Love Questions and Bonuses! There'll be some new stuff on there soon. :)***

The bridal botique was large, spacious, and white. Everywhere you looked, almost everything was white. The furnature was all plush, soft, and inviting- I was overwhelmed. I looked over my shoulder at my fiancee, giddy to get started. Sadly, his face showed the obvious pain we both felt rather than letting his excitement get to him. The woman behind the receptionist's desk looked at us carefully, talking on the phone but still smiling, trying to deduce why we were there. She held up a finger, and motioned to a waiting area as she chatted away on her phone.

I gratefully sat down on the plush white couch, waiting for her to stop talking. Mori sat beside me, rigid and uncomfortable. To be honest, it didn't seem like him to be so tense because of the boys... Maybe he was just nervous about the wedding...

I hoped not. I wanted him to have as much fun with this as I was going to.

The woman set her reciever down with a click and greeted us, "Hello! Welcome to the Union Bridal Botique and Wedding Shop! How may I help you today? Gift ideas? Do you know someone who's getting married perhaps?" She smiled at us politely.

"Oh, actually," I smiled back shyly and stood, "We're here to plan _our_ wedding!" I chuckled nervously as she took that in.

"Ah..." She counted heads, "All seven of you...?" The woman, I saw her name-tag said Minami, looked doubtful now.

"No. Just us. They..." Takashi struggled to explain the crazy tag-alongs.

"They came against our will... Ah heh..." I gave her a pleading look, "I thought I read on the site that _only _the bride, groom, and their parents to be were allowed to sit and consult with the planners?"

Minami's eyes registered the plea for help. "Oh, yes, I'm afraid so," She grinned at the five behind us, "You'll all have to either leave or wait here."

Tamaki and Honey looked heart-broken, the twins a bit bored, and Kyoya could have cared less. "Fine," said the Otori boy, "We'll leave you to it." He had to drag Tamaki out by the scruff of his neck, but we were finally alone to plan.

Minami relaxed a bit then and handed us off to a planner. She introduced herself as Yumi. "Hi there! I'll be helping you pick out everything you want to have in the wedding! Oh, are your parents going to help you?"

"No, we've all decided that it's up to us." I grinned sweetly at her. That hadn't really been the case... I was actually forcing my dad to go along with it, and it took quite a bit of persuading Takashi's mother to let us... But it was worth it, because this wedding was going to be _mine_. And Mori's, of course, but mostly mine.

"Oh, well alrighty then!"

The sun slid smoothly across the window, but we payed it no heed. Oblivious to time, money, and the fact that our friends would want to know where we were, we kept making plans, until the only missing piece was the dress. I smiled. That was mine, too.

Yumi sat back in her chair, almost exhausted looking. She smiled tiredly, "Well, you're certainly ready for this, aren't you?" She flipped open our personal wedding binder, the one that would hold and carry out our plans to the t.

_Let's see..._ I thought, _We have the party picked out, all my bridesmaids and his groomsmen and such... We have the guest list- man did that take forever... There's the photographer and the DJ, along with the church and banquet hall we selected... Funny, right next to an Otori hospital!... We've got a hotel manager on the line for rooms of the guests, and a florist on e-mail alert for boquets and decorations... The caterers are hired... OH! The tuxes and dresses, the Hitachiins have us covered..._

I continued to check through the list, making sure we had everything down, while Mori and Yumi discussed prices.

_Oh and the invitations! The ones we designed are so pretty! Oh I hope everyone likes them... There's the rehearsal dinner resteraunt, got that... We have transportation arranged... That's good, knowing Majka and Tamaki, they'll want limos. The cake! Oh, man! The cake has to be one of the best parts... I love the design and colors. The Hitachiin boys also have me covered on hair and makeup, thank God! They're good at it, too!_

I flipped pages rapidly, making sure there was nothing we missed that could be taken care of now.

_There's the party favors, those are cute... The people giving toasts... The undergarments we decided would be just as much a surprise as the dress, wink wink! Submitting something to the newspaper? Takashi's father had that covered... He volunteered, oddly enough. Oh, and speaking of his father, he'd make sure there was an open bar... The marriage license? Mori had surprised me with that while we were in Tokyo... He seemed excited as I was then..._

I looked up at him. He was deep in thought, but I could see it... I could see that glint in his eyes, that he was happy. I smiled and set down the binder, deciding that we'd got it all down.

Ten minutes later, we walked out of the bridal botique hand in hand, ready for a wedding. It was everything I'd hoped it was going to be... But now, the real challenge! Finding the perfect outfit!

And I most definitely do not mean the dress(though that's also important).

I mean, the _HONEYMOON_ was going to be later that night! I'd have to be prepared! Of course, I had several friends who were (hopefully) going to be able to help me with that... My one worry was that whatever I picked to wear before we... Ya know... Took it off... I was scared that he wouldn't like it. Apparently it showed on my face.

He stopped walking, "Hey." I looked up at him. He smiled down on me and kissed my forehead before whispering, "This is going to be fun. Really." And just like that... I was perfectly okay with the worry I felt. Heck, what did I have to worry for anyway? If he didn't like it, I would just take it off faster! I laughed to myself.

Oh, the pervert I'd become...


	5. Chapter 5

**~Blech... I do NOT have time for writing right now... This is so depressing! I'm sorry to all the fans who are counting on this! I know I'm such a horrible person! This took so much timeee aghhh... I was pretty busy getting my thoughts together and making sure most of this is accurate! XD~**

Rebekah looked carefree, but non-chalant on our way home. We'd decided to walk for a little bit, maybe find some dinner even, before we called for a car. We were some 20 miles from home, so walking the whole way was no option.

Though I'd already told her I was excited for the wedding, I wasn't sure she'd bought it. Bekah was and will always be a fabulous actor... Probably better than Kyoya or the twins, which is hard to beat. I had a feeling she still doubted me, but there wasn't much I could really do about that.

Aside from that, I honestly couldn't take my mind off of one thing- what would she wear?

And I don't mean the dress.

I could feel my face heating up just thinking about it. I figured she'd already been thinking about this, but I'd like her in _anything_ she wore, even if that didn't consist of much.

My cheekbones flushed red.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her look up at me, clearly trying to distinguish the cause of my sudden color change. A deep rumbling echoed, the epicenter of the sound being her stomach. She blushed. I smiled and squeezed her hand, using my right hand to point across the street to a small resteraunt. If she's hungry, then it's time to make a stop.

The waitress standing ready at the resteraunt had a big, bright smile and a mouth full of chewing gum. She wore a t-shirt that looked like a kimono that got chopped off at the waist and had somehow lost a lot of fabric around the bosom. I kept my eyes on her face. She walked with a bouce in her step as she showed us to the table, acting like serving here was the best thing in the world.

Rebekah seemed to only notice how upbeat she really was when she came back to take our drink order. The girl shifted into an almost seductive pose when she jotted down our requests, lowering her eyelids in a way that reminded me of Tokyo... I smiled to myself. No matter how hard this girl tried, she wouldn't do much to arouse me.

Rebekah did not seem pleased. She'd seen the smile after the girl had done her little act, and looked like she was ready to kill. But the moment the girl came back to take food orders, the look was gone. Instead, she looked upbeat, happy, and over all in a great mood.

I knew what she was up to.

As the girl came back to the table, she flipped her hair over her shoulder. Giving me that same smile, and pretty much ignoring my fiance. I gave her my order and placed my hands on the table. It would help.

Rebekah shifted so that she, too, was posing a bit promiscuously, then gave the girl her order as well. The girl bent over to grab our menus, showing off a small canyon that I tried desparately to avoid seeing. Then to counter her, Bekah reached across the table with her left hand, grasping my left in her own. Our engagement rings shined in the dimly lit resteraunt.

The girl looked like she swallowed her gum.

Bekah smiled seductively and added to the girl, "Oh, and could we add on a dessert to that? Tomorrow is our anniversarry." So smug...

The girl blushed, nodded, and was on her way. Ironically enough, a different waitress came to give us our food. She said something about the first girl going home sick, and gave us new drinks in case they were contaminated.

My fiance was still smug.

I grinned at her over our food, unashamed of her cruelty. The waitress had obviously seen we weren't related in any way, so it was pretty much her own fault that she flirted. That forgotten, Rebekah and I talked about what we should do for a Honeymoon. The trick was, it was going to be a surprise. I'd made her promise that I could take her where I wanted. She seemed okay with that, which was great for me.

She wanted to go somewhere crowded. A lot of people go to places that are completely private and such, but she didn't like that idea. Since the wedding itself was going to be after graduation, in April, we wanted to make sure that wherever it was wasn't going to be too cold or hot. There would have to be a lot of landmarks and tourist stuff, too, though. She was a learning girl, and I knew she'd want things to occupy her mind when her mind wasn't on the bed... Ah ha... It was going to be a little hard, but I had something in mind that would suit her tastes and mine.

The clock's hands slid down past 9. We were just finishing up dessert and celebrating our anniversary. Ironically enough, it WAS tomorrow. I don't know how she remembers these things, but tomorrow would be the one year anniversary of when we told the twins that we were together for the first time.

I grabbed her hand and leaned toward her. She followed suit and kissed me lightly. Keeping her face close, she told me what else she'd want for the wedding night. I blushed and laughed. I always forget how she has a dark side. We left around 9:30, making plans to meet up with each other the next day for something. She didn't want to tell me yet... Which meant she wanted to talk about something... Well...

This would be fun.


	6. Chapter 6

I stared her in the face.

"You have to do this for me. You have to."

She stared blankly back.

I huffed. "Come on, all the times we went out, and you're ditching me now?" I stood and grabbed the rope, ready to latch it to the dog-collar around her neck.

"Well, whether you like it or not, we're going to do this."

I stared down at my dog, Dakota, who did not in any way shape or form, want to go for a walk. I could see her eyes yelling at me, 'Shut up Rebekah! I'm not gonna help you try to run, you'll kill yourself and I'll be locked out of the house!'

I sighed again. "Yeah, you're probably right. Oh well. Come on! Takashi is gonna meet us at the dog park!"

Her ears perked and her eyes sparkled. 'Dog park!?'

"Yep. With all those other dogs... You can run rampant, and you can pee or poop wherever, and nobody will clean it up... No leash... Free running... You just have to run there with me, okay?"

She barked and licked my leg. That'd be a yes.

We stood outside while I locked the door, standing in the cool springish air with only running capris, a sports bra, and a running jacket on. My jacket was unzipped, my bra showing as if it were a tank top. Then we were off.

Two blocks down the street, we took a left, only to nearly run into Mori.

"Oh! Jeez! You scared me, what are you doing?"

He held my waist to keep me from falling over. "I was just on my way to your place, so we could meet up sooner?" I laughed. So eager to please!

"Well, here we are, let's go!" He looked at Dakota and back up to me questioningly. "What?" I said, "She hasn't been out in a while. It'll be fine."

We jogged to a coffee shop nearby the dog park. Seeing as it was 8:00 in the morning, I needed it. Not so much for caffiene, but becuase it was warm, and that was good for me.

We laughed and talked for a bit before we were off again. Dakota was chained up outside, and I could swear she could smell the dogs at the park, she was so excited.

We walked to the park, and let her go. The park was a large square of grass and some trees, surrounded by a chain-link fence. There was a double gate at the exit, so as not to let any dogs in or out. I found it funny that as cool and technology oriented as Japan is, they still have room for dog parks here and there. There was a picnic table resting in the center of a few large pines. We seemed to be one of only three dog owners there.

He skipped straight to what was on his mind, not wasting time. "So what did you want to talk about?"

I looked up at him, a little surprised. "Well, nothing actually. I just wanted to walk with you a bit." Now it was his turn to be shocked. I was being completely honest, but he was sure there would be a reason.

"Hmm. I guess I've been spending a bit too much time with Tamaki and Kyoya, huh? Those nut-cases have a reason for doing everything."

We laughed at them, sipping coffee and watching my huskie frollick with a german shepard and a mastiff. Good day for big dogs.

After a bit, Takashi turned to me. "I think I'd like to get a dog."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It would be good for me. All I've ever done is take care of Mitskuni, but I've never had any practice actually caring for something. Plus, a dog would be a great playmate for Dakota _and_ me. A dog sounds good."

I nodded, taking in the idea. What kind of dog would be good for him, though? Maybe a setter... or a chow? No... Something like... "Oh! That'd be perfect!"

"What?" He asked.

"I know the perfect dog for you." Without even thinking, we swung by the closest pet shop on our way home. Luckily for me, they knew a lot of breeders, and one of them had exactly the breed I was thinking of. We thanked the owner and were on our way, after stocking up on dog food, a collar, leash, and some toys, of course. We sent everything but the collar and leash back to Mori's house with a driver he called.

We walked to the breeder, taking our sweet time. We called them on the way there, saying we would like to swing by to see if they had any puppies. Lucky enough, they did. It seemed meant to be.

We were greeted by a woman probably in her early 20's, a white woman, no less. She grinned at us, flustered from keeping up with the pups, most likely. I heard the deep yapping of puppies behind her. I could tell they were going to grow up to be pretty hefty. I kept Dakota on a VERY short leash, making sure she wouldn't run off.

"Hi! You must be the couple who called not too long ago. I am Margaret, my husband James is in the back room. It's feeding time, actually!" She laughed and ushered us in.

"Ah, there they are!" A man stooped, pouring water into a very large bowl for what must have been eight puppies. I counted, nope, there were nine. "Hello, I'm James." He shook our hands, a thick Australian accent affecting his english. Mori looked like it was a little hard for him to follow, but he was pretty good about english, so I'm sure he was fine.

Margaret clasped her hands. "You're a bit younger than we'd expected... How old are you two?

Takashi spoke up, "I'm 19, and Rebekah is just 18. We are still living with our parents, but they're fine if we get pets. I can garuntee we're fully able to care for a dog."

I held up Dakota's leash, "Dakota is a 6 year family member!" We smiled, but she still seemed a bit hesitant.

"Well," She started, "Alright. Have a look around, the girls have pink collars, and the boy dogs have blue collars. If you find one you like, tell us! Oh, and if you'd like to see how your dog reacts to them, we can let them looks in the yard." She smiled and disappeared with her husband.

"So," I turned to my fiance, "See any you like?"

We stood before nine great dane puppies, most eating or drinking, some tripping over their enourmous paws, some standing and wagging their tails at us. Mori bend by each, staring them in the eyes. All but two of them, both boys, wiggled their heads and tried to get away. The situations with the two who reacted to him in different ways than I'd expect went as follows. One, a pitch black puppy dropped down onto just his front two paws, wiggling his butt, and jumped on Mori, nipping at his face. Mori smiled and roughed him up a bit, then moved on. The second one that reacted wierdly was more calm.

He carefully grabbed the dogs jaw so it faced him, staring probably straight into it's soul. The dog looked right back at him, completely still. It didn't wag it's tail, it didn't lick it's chops, it didn't shift it's weight. After a few seconds of this, he slowly pushed his head forward and licked Mori's cheek carefully. He chuckled and stood.

"That's him." I looked at the dog, a bit stranger than the rest. While the other puppies were smooth and black and wrinkled. This puppy was spotted brownish and black, and was shaggy in fur. He had a muscular build and large paws, though, like the rest of the pups, but he looked a bit older. Maybe 6 months older. We called for the couple again. They came back into the room, smiles on their faces.

Those smiles dropped right off their faces when they saw which puppy Mori was holding though. "Oh... So you've chosen... That one...?"

"Uh, yes. Is that a problem?"

"Oh, well, it's just that... That one's not very upbeat... He's not very much of a family dog, you see? And he's... Well he's pretty old to adopt..."

"How old?"

"Oh... He's nearly a year old now..."

"I'll take him." Mori was straight forward about it. "I don't care how old."

She looked shocked. "Oh. Well, are you sure? He's not even wholly dane. He's half australian shepherd... The mother got away one night... He was the only puppy. Still, so many people are worried that they can't train him because he's so old now."

"I can do it. How much do you want?"

She smiled, sensing his determination and honesty. "Well, 500 is our regular price, which would be 50,240 yen, but we'll take $150 off for the age- so 35,168 yen."

We payed her and were off. We latched him onto the leash and collar and started our walk back. Dakota was pretty interested in him, but she didn't try to mess with him at all. He was a pretty stoic pup, honestly, so she was smart not to try to play. We also decided to name him Sutokiz, from the words sutoikko(stoic), and kizoku(noble). We called a car and went to the first engraving place we could find to get a tag, and then started home. Sitting in the back seat of Mori's family's car with our dogs, I couldn't have ever felt more like I was part of a family.

I flipped my camera out of my purse, clicking the record button as I do. I started talking to my family back home as I turned the camera all around. "So! Here we are guys! This is my second day back from my EPIC business journey around the world, and we just bought a dog! We named him Sutokiz, which pretty much means stoic noble, and that's kinda what he is! He's pretty chill." I turned the camera toward him and he cocked his head to the side, laying across Mori's lap suavely. "See? He's cool. Dakota on the other hand, is still sticking her head out the window like a puppy. Not sure if she'll ever chill..." I showed half a dog, seeing as the other half was outside the car. Then I turned to Takashi, "And here is my lovely fiance, now a proud owner of a dog! Say hey, babe!"

He smiled and waved at the camera. I laughed and turned it off. "Ya know," I said to him, "My family loves you... They're pretty convinced you're the best thing that's happened in the world since sliced bread."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Good, cause I'm here to stay."


	7. Chapter 7

**~Helleeew! So somebody mentioned how in the first blog video, Rebekah says "Peace off, boop!" and so they thought that I might be a Tobuscus fan... I TOTALLY AM. BUUUT I'm also a HUGE Pewds fan. AIN'T NO PARTY LIKE A PEWDIEPIE PARTY! WHEEEEEW! Ahaha... Anyways, enjoy!~**

Monday was a pain. After being up until late with Sutokiz(trying to get him situated and all) I could barely handle getting up in the morning. Suto-chan(Mitskuni's nickname for him) dozed in the corner of my room on a dog-bed three times too big for him. I stretched, waiting for my head to clear. Muscles loose, I stripped my clothes off and took a quick shower. I had an extra half hour from when I typically got up, since I wasn't sure how much I'd have to do with Suto-chan. Honestly, not our best idea, getting a dog on a whim...

_Our_ decision meaning Rebekah's and mine, of course.

I stepped into the steam-filled bathroom, wrapping a towel around my waist and knotting it there. I wiped off the mirror and stared myself in the face. What was I thinking!? How was I supposed to know what to do with a dog?

I knew the reason behind getting a dog... I was practicing. For having a family. I mean, having a dog and a baby is pretty much the same thing, right?

I hoped so.

Not that I was planning on starting a family any time soon- I think my parents would disown me. Honest. However, it'll happen someday so I may as well get a head start. I shook my head to get the thoughts out of my head, I didn't need to think about that then.

I stepped back outside the room to Sutokiz. His bowl sat next to his bed on the floor, empty. The puppy chow sat near it, already half empty. He ate a lot... It would cost quite a bit to feed him.

Worth it. He was already growing on me.

I stooped, ruffling his head, before I went to get dressed.

I threw my uniform on, careful not to wrinkle it. Sutokiz looked up at me with his head cocked to the side. He looked curious. I turned to him, pulling at the sides of the shirt I'd just buttoned. "It's my version of fur." He seemed to understand. He stood, walked over to me, and started sniffing my pants. After he completed two laps around me, he licked my foot and went back to his bed.

Smiling, I slipped my shoes and jacket on. Snatching up Suto's leash from my dresser, I hooked it up to the silver ring on his collar and led him downstairs quietly, careful not to wake my family. They weren't really upset about Sutokiz, in fact, they loved him. But definitely Ouka, my little sister. She absolutely adored him.

At least I knew what I'd be getting her for Christmas.

After I slipped back inside, I left Sutokiz in my room and got the driver to bring the car around. I was fifteen minutes early, but what did that matter? I could see Rebekah sooner. For once in my life, I was happy to be going back to school again.

Minutes later, I was quickly stepping my way through the school, trying to find my class, Rebekah and Mitskuni. As I rounded the last corner toward the classroom, a slight Asian girl stopped me, putting on a sweet, innocent face that I didn't have the heart to shoot down. She smiled at me, talking, but I only nodded warily back at her. I honestly didn't have the patience to deal with her when Rebekah was so close now. I had no energy for the girl with the green headband now.

"...ashi?" She looked sad now, "Takashi-kun, did you hear me?" She looked nervous as I blinked, snapping back to the present.

"Ah, sorry. What?"

A little down, she repeated herself. "I heard that you and Rebekah-senpai are getting married... That's nice." She tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.

"Oh, yes, thank you. Where did you hear that?"

"You're welcome... See, Ki-"

She was interrupted by the bell.

"Oh, we should get to class..." I nodded, "Okay, well, I'll see you later Morninozuka-senpai..." It struck me as a bit odd that she used my last name. I was so used to her calling me Mori, or Mori-senpai, or Mori-kun, or using my first name... Why would she use my last name now?

_Oh_. I thought, _because I'm no longer available, so she's trying to get used to it now... Is that it?_

I shook my head, not wanting to start my week like this. I walked toward my classroom.

When I walked in the door, there they were, waiting for me.

Except, they were facing away from me, talking to someone else.

I called for Rebekah and Mitskuni, and as they turned I saw a head of blonde hair.

"Shi... Kira Shibisaki?"


	8. Chapter 8

"Kira..." Takashi was shell-shocked.

"Oh, hey!" I slipped over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "How was Sutokiz? My offer still stands to babysit if you need my help with him."

He didn't respond, but stared suspiciously over my head.

"Okay, rude." I walked back over to Shiba and Honey, fuming. I knew that Kira and Mori hadn't always gotten along that well, but did he really have to act like that around him now? It's not like he's a threat.

Shiba stood as Takashi finally approached. "Hey, good to see you." Shiba smiled and tried to shake Mori's hand, but he just stared at it without a word. "Oh kay... Well, I'm glad to hear about the wedding! It sounds like it's going to be great! I really am happy for you guys." Kira let his hands flop a little bit before he clasped his hands together behind his back, clearly unnerved.

I thanked him, and before I could even consider how rude this would be to my fiancé, I invited Kira to the wedding.

"Would you like to go? To the wedding, I mean? It would be really nice to see you there!" I smiled sincerely, and turned to my love. "Wouldn't it, darling?"

I saw hatred in his eyes.

"Oh, well," Shibasaki hesitated, also seeing the emotion in senpai's eyes, "I- I don't really think it's my place to-"

"Oh nonsense! We'll send you the official invite. If you want, I can even get you a date!" I elbowed his ribs lightly, smiling, and slid into a desk as his friends called to him.

Mori leaned against the desk next to me, arms crossed and head bowed. I sat leaning forward slightly, back straight, just perfect so that I could stare him right in the face.

"You had that coming." He looked up and glared at me. I respectfully ignored that. "I don't know what you have against him. I mean, I know he had a thing for me, but seriously!? Is that your reason? I'm with you and because of the ring you managed to force onto me, I'll be your sexy slave until you see fit." I threw in dramatic tone and fell against my desk. He didn't look amused. "Honest though, I'm all yours! Why should you be jealous or suspicious?"

I could tell he didn't have an answer. He'd never really warmed up to Shiba-chan last year, why should he have warmed up to him when I was gone? I shook my head. "Come 'ere ya goof." He leaned close to me so I could kiss him, and sat in his seat.

"You're right, you know. I am jealous of him... But for no reason. Maybe it's because your full attention isn't on me." His face loosened as he smiled at me, and I knew he meant it.

And then class began. Finally.

When the last hour of the day had finally subsided, I was exhausted.

But excited! It was back to the host club, and I couldn't wait to see what kind of cos-play Tamaki had set up for us now. He'd told us we'd be getting dressed up, but he didn't tell us what the theme was. Just that he was so happy to see me back that he was dressing us up in honor of the occasion.

The music room was too far away for my liking. Honey and I played some form of tag on the way there, with the sporadic interjection from Takashi telling us not to hurt ourselves.

Finally, we flung the double doors open...

And I stopped dead.

Before me was a row of costumes, some of them already being picked over by it's assigned host. All the boys were there, and Haruhi as well, leaving only three costumes unused. A very large suit, a very small one...

And what looked like a wedding dress.

Takashi was behind me by the time I realized what Tamaki had done. I could feel his mind piecing it together behind me. I sighed. He was unbelievable. I couldn't grasp that he was stupid enough to have done this. Honestly.

What could he possibly gain by advertising that Takashi-kun and I were going to get married!? He'd probably cause a loss of customers! However...

The dress was really pretty...

Maybe I could do this, after all. Besides, seeing Mori in a suit was always great...

Yeah. I was fine with it.

Then I noticed the _second_ dress hanging up, slightly smaller than the other.

I broke from my daze and walked over to the half french boy. "Hey, did you lose my measurements? Why are there two dresses?"

"Oh, well one of them is for Haruhi of course! Now that you know about her, and you're back here, we can pull it off as a cos-play thing!" He chuckled lightly.

"Hm. Well, as long as Haruhi is okay with this..."

"AUGH! Hikaru!"

"That was Kaoru! I swear!"

"I'm not stupid you guys! Don't touch me like that!"

I turned to see the twins messing with the only other girl in the room, a short, brown haired girl with big brown eyes and a boy's uniform on. I sighed, knowing that with eyes like that, there was no way she'd be hiding as a boy for long... _I wonder how long they've managed to hide her for...?_

"Hey, Haru-chaaan!" Honey latched himself onto her arm and pointed over to me. "See that girl there? That's Takashi's fiance, Bekah-chan!"

I smiled and waved at her, then walked over to introduce myself.

"Hi!" She said, looking up at me slightly. "I've heard a lot about you in the last few days, I'm glad to finally meet you!" She shook my hand, then yelped as the twins carried her off to put the dress on.

I tried to respond, but... Those twins are fast...

I heard a sound from the double doors that were the entrance to the hosting room.

Mori was still standing there. He was shaking slightly, mouth open, eyes in a frustrated stare. After a moment, he made a strangled sound, closing his mouth, and covered his eyes with his hand. After a moment, he lifted his face and walked in, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the costumes with his head bowed slightly, eyes closed.

I do believe I saw him blush a little. But there wasn't time to double-check, because he was off to the prep room to change.

Which meant I had to change as well... Fabulous.


	9. Chapter 9

Haruhi and Rebekah stood awkwardly in their obnoxious gowns, waiting for the boys to finish changing and making small talk. It was amazing, how much they dealt with. They had to get a wig for Haruhi, do Rebekah's hair, get them both corsets and slips, shoes and stockings, and accessories-

And they were _still_ done before Tamaki.

Speaking of whom, I was very angry with the blonde. He was pretty much going to die the next time I got near him.

I readjusted myself shyly again, trying to keep my suit straight while Mitskuni climbed over me repeatedly.

"Really? They never mentioned me?" Rebekah's voice sounded over my cousin's laughter. "That's odd. I'm a little insulted! Ha ha..."

"Well Hikaru and Kaoru told me earlier today that they'd avoided talking about you so they wouldn't miss you so much. Or something like that."

Rebekah sighed. "Yeah, that's something they'd try to do. It was hard on my end, too, but I don't think I ever shut up about this place!" She fidgeted in the dress, shifting the heavy layers of the gown around herself. It was a stunning ensemble. A thick white skirt, puffed around her enough that it didn't rest against her legs, but it wasn't nearly big enough to compare to a princess, either. The top of it was a halter, the material gathering around her neck and clasping in the back. There was a triangular cut out in the chest of it, showing off just enough of her cleavage to show she was feminine. The sleeves were attached to the rest of the dress at the armpits. They were made of a floral patterned lace, which bunched into a ring-like attachment on her middle finger. Her shoulders were exposed.

Haruhi, however, was wearing something much less elaborately elegant. It was a light purple, which reminded me of Tamaki's eyes. Odd, but he'd probably planned that. My own suit had a blue vest that was nearly as vivid as Bekah's eyes. Anyway. This dress also had a haltered top, but it was squared off, and had a bow that tied in the back. From the ribs down, it flowed off of Haruhi in loose, gauzy folds. Her wig was done up in curled pig tails, a lot like how they looked on her first date with Hikaru. She was dressed very simply, but elegantly. Still, she was nothing compared to Rebekah.

Mitskuni crawled up my back for the seventh time that day. "Hey, Takashi? Bekah-chan looks really good in that dress, don't ya think? I wonder if her _real_ dress will look that good...?" He looked to me for an answer.

I thought about it. I've never seen her look so attractive, so beautiful as she did in that dress- but then, she'd surprised me before. I smiled back at my small relative, "She'll pull it off. I don't know how, but she will."

He grinned and hopped off my back as Tamaki stepped out of his changing room at last. The suit was black, with a purple under shirt and silver buttoning. He didn't look nearly as stunning as usual, but I could see the pink hint of budding love spread across Haruhi's face when she saw him. I smoothed down the jacket I wore as I watched Tamaki strut around.

A smaller, more soothing pair of hands spread over my back, eliminating the wrinkles that I couldn't fix myself. I shivered and turned to meet Rebekah's eyes. God... She was stunning. We smiled at each other, no words necessary. We both knew that Tamaki had done this for us. This was our day, to show off what we had. It was pretty marvelous that he could do something like that, self centered as he is.

But then again, he's a pretty good guy. One of the best I know.

Maybe this surprise wasn't so bad after all.

Kyoya clapped his hands, yelling for us to prepare for the guests. Leaving the prep room, I was shocked. The whole hosting area was decked out in snow white roses, hung with silk banners and elegant furniture that hadn't been there before we changed. Seeing our shock, Kyoya explained how the twins had had some of their mother's shop's furniture brought over to decorate for the occasion. They smiled together in matching suits.

The red-haired boys bobbed off, arranging people in their places. Kyoya stood in as the priest at the alter, while Rebekah and I held hands with her veil over her face in front of him. Honey stood in as my best man (which of course, he most likely would be) while Haruhi stood in as the maid of honor. Tamaki and the twins opened the doors and welcomed the girls to the wedding-like room with breezy smiles and deep bows.

The crowd of girls sighed, their faces showing the obvious envy and awe they all felt. I smiled at them, doing my job of course, but happy knowing that our real wedding would be much, _much_ better than this. No offense to the guys or anything, but Rebekah and I had picked it all out together... That made it better than anything anyone else could've ever planned. Ever.

Ten minutes later I sat with two or three girls and Mitskuni. I lounged on the end of a small couch, staring off into space.

Well, if you can call a beautiful woman in a wedding dress 'space', that is...

She was so close. It was maybe ten steps to her table, where she sat laughing with another girl. It would be so easy to get to her. Just to get up and walk over there would be only seconds. Only moments and I could wrap her up in my arms...

"...Akashi-sama? Are you listening?" The girl with the green headband sat next to me, smiling nervously up at me. It seemed I had been paying less attention than I'd thought.

"Mmm." I answered back. I'd taken to not talking around anyone outside the club... But mostly Rebekah.

My cousin looked over at me. "That's a little rude, Takashi!" He smiled. "It's okay, though, right girls? I mean, it's a little hard _not_to focus on the room or the outfits! It's all so pretty!"

The girls sighed as he squeezed his bunny. I went back to daydreaming. We had about 5, maybe 6 more months of school left.

_Do I really have to do this every day until graduation...?_


	10. Chapter 10

I fidgeted in my dress, unsure of how to react with this girl... I mean, I'd been her unspoken of rival since our second year of high school... Why was she there? What could she possibly have to say to me now!?

The girl who always wore a green headband, the one who's name I'd never bothered to learn, sat in front of me awkwardly, also toying with her gown.

"So..." I began bashfully, "Uh... Do you, do you like the, uh... Do you like the cake today?"

"Oh, oh yes, it's good. It's very good, thank you." She smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh, I suppose you're wondering why I'm here to see you..."

We sat another moment in silence.

"Yeah... Kinda..."

"Erm, well, I just- I just wanted to, uh... I just wanted to say congrats..." I watched, a headache forming in my temples, as tears formed silently in her pink eyes. "You know, on the wedding and all..."

"Oh... Thanks..."

Her mouth opened and closed several times, unsure of herself, before she finally found her voice. "I am so sorry for how I've acted around you! I knew from day one you two were meant to be, but while you were away, and even while you were still here, I tried to get in the way of that... Could you ever forgive me for that?"

I smiled, "Of course... You know... It may sound ludicrous and mean, but I think it would be nice if you would come to the wedding. I have a friend who needs a date. I think you two would make a great couple." I leaned on the table, trying not to be cruel about it. "So what do you say? Would you let me set you two up?"

She stuttered over her words, not sure how to respond to a request like that. "Well, I guess... Who did you have in mind?"

I grinned.

"No!" The foreigner shouted at me in Japanese, "There's no way!"

"Come on, it's only one night, and she's really nice! You'll love her! Please let me set you up!?" I was nearly on my knees, begging Shibisaki to take the girl from the host club to the wedding as his date. Stubborn, he refused. Continuously.

"No, no and no. There's no chance. I couldn't! I'm not good about dates!"

"Don't worry, I'd do all the hard stuff! All you have to do is talk and walk her to her car afterwards. And maybe dance... But that's for you to decide. Come on, she really wants to meet you...!"

He crossed his arms over his tidy school uniform and huffed. "Well... Who is she, huh?"

"Her name is Aina Tanakau, she's in our class. She's sweet, you guys would make a great couple!" I paused while he pondered.

"Well... Well, alright. But I'm not promising I'll be a great gentleman..."

"Yes!" I hugged him tightly around his shoulders, shouting, "Thank you so much, Kira! I knew you wouldn't dissappoint us!"

As the rest of that month flew by, my time was absorbed in studying for college entrance exams, spending time with my fabulous fiance, and checking up on wedding preparations. As I worked, I did a lot of reminiscing over the end of last year. I remember how great Tokyo with the guys was, but the rest of the school year had been even better...

Two weeks after we returned, Mitskuni, Takashi and I found the school's gardens. It was a beautiful set up, full of lush trees and overflowing bushes that dappled the ground with shadows and absorbed sound from the outside. Birds, hidden behind the greenery, twittered and sang almost all the time. When they weren't belting out their serenades, the grasshopper choruses began. However beautiful the garden was though, it was best at night. The ponds within were lit with a green-tinged light, and the fireflies produced a kind of glow that could never be reproduced otherwise... There were plenty of great memories there.

One of the nights that Mori and I snuck back to the grounds to sit there was the one I remember the best.

When he proposed to me. The _second_ time.

We all know about his... Less than satisfactory proposal... But none of the club members save for he and I knew about _this_ one. It was... Perfect... There's no other word.

The grasshoppers' chirps and the fireflies lit up the perfumed foliage around us, washing over us in waves, seductively surprising our senses.

We found an old copper looking bench, green from old age, twisting metal formed intricate shapes and swirls around the sides. For the longest time, we simply sat and talked. I noticed that he twitched and fiddled a little, which wasn't quite normal for him.

_What_? I'd said to him. _Got a hot date you're late for_? I nudged him around. He smiled that charismatic, casually carefree smile he had.

_Well, yeah, but she's just a toy. You're the one I had to work for._ He'd kissed me then, cheesy prick.

But I loved it.

_Oh ho? Good for me, then? In all honesty, you won before the race had even started. Though you already knew that, correct?_

The memories swelled in my head, stopping me from doing anything productive when this part came into play.

He leaned over me, rubbing my neck underneath my hair and squeezing my leg just above my knee.

_Hmph,_ he laughed at me, _Sure... So, I have a question for you, my trophy... Do you love me?_

_Of course! _I sat up with a jolt. _What are you getting at? Do you want to break it off? Because that would really cause a problem between us._

He laughed loudly. I mean a sort of laugh that I thought he was less than capable of. Loud, full, and hearty. I thought his vocal chords were going to burst.

_No, no, no... I assure you, that's not it. Not at all._ He chortled some more before continuing. _I just wanted to make sure you and I were on the same page. So that's that._ I looked at him suspiciously.

He was acting pretty oddly, even to me. Normally he'd do things that weren't normal for him when he was with me (i.e. singing, dancing, stuff like that), which would really freak out the club boys. But this... This was different. It was honestly weird. I figured that he'd finally embraced the energy he used in ken-do and had directed it toward his emotions. That made sense... Maybe.

Suddenly he'd been stoic again. Mostly straight faced, hint of a smile... The expression that I loved to see the most. It won by a landslide, even next to the smile he saved only for me.

That face just had a way of making me feel like he was pushing the whole world aside to pay attention to me. Even considering that's probably true, it was a _great_ feeling.

_I want to marry you._

_I know, that's why you gave me the ring, ya know._

_Heh, I know... Rebekah...?_

_Yeah?_ I was a little scared...

_Will you marry me?_

And he was down on one knee, a long, thin box in his hand, definitely not a ring.

I stared down at him, shocked, as he opened it; he revealed a sparkling bracelet of shining sterling silver. Inlaid upon it in the middle was a delicate pattern of swirling blue gems. My first thought was-

_It matches the necklace you gave me... And the ring!_

He laughed again, and followed up, _So how about it? Marry me?_

Let me just say, that was fine by me!

One day, while replaying this same moment, I sighed and set down the bottle of Clorox I was using to clean the bathroom. I blew a clump of feathery hair out of my face and sat back on my heels.

Did I really have to deal with this... This... This withdrawal, every day until graduation?


	11. Chapter 11

***Sorry I haven't updated in a while... I've been grounded, and I can't update when that happens! I'm a terrible author! ; _ ;***

Today was the last day before our winter break. It wasn't very snowy, but it was cool outside, and I was looking forward to the break in my senior year.

Sutokiz would need walking.

My college exams were in, and I'd already decided on which I was going to.

Now, all that was left was this practice, hosting, and I was free.

It was the home stretch toward break.

I picked up my sword, training robes tied tight around me, ready to swing into action when the coach's whistle blew.

I stared my first year opponent in the face, not seeing him particularly, but seeing his fear. Coach had put me with him to help him get better. I was by far the best in the club, but I knew how to control myself, so I was good to train with. I sighed.

This was going to be far too easy.

_Rebekah is going to be waiting..._ I thought while blocking his well-placed strikes. _Oh, he's pretty good... I wonder how long hosting will take today..._ He nearly struck me, I upped the skill level to challenge him. _What time is it...? I get out of here in 20 minutes? It can't really be that long..._ The boy struggled some more, I relinquished my power slightly. _This is taking forever..._

And so the next 20 minutes passed... Me simply adjusting my power level, and thinking of the time when I'd be hosting. Tamaki had debated holding a Christmas party again this year (the last one had been a tremendous success), but it seemed that he'd rather take a trip with our gender-confused friend Haruhi. They were going to the mountains.

Thank God. That meant I'd be free to be with Rebekah all of break.

However, she said she'd made some plans... I wasn't sure what those could be, but she kept saying that she wanted me to come with. Of course, I could if I wanted, but I'd have to talk to my parents(even though I was of age), and she'd have to tell me where so I could pack accordingly.

I didn't understand what would be wrong with a little house hunting, but we still had to wait a half a month until she was 18... January 15th, to be specific... So her family was still struggling against her slightly there.

My thoughts wandered around like that until I got to the Host Club, Mitskuni tackling me, and Rebekah smiling keenly at me from across the room, where she was hosting Aina... The girl looked flustered.

I caught a snippet of the conversation as Aina worried herself.

"I just don't know what I'd do! Do I have to dance with him every song, and do I have to hold his hand? What if he tries to _kiss _me!?" Her voice raised and fell with emotion, mostly horror. I laughed to myself.

Before I knew it, we were done hosting. I couldn't believe how quickly the time had passed. Rebekah and I walked to her house. I hooked Dakota onto her leash while Bekah went upstairs to change. I nearly followed her... She returned quickly, dressed in a light sweater and jean capri's. She was tying her hair up and slipping on tennis shoes while I flipped through a book I'd picked up off the shelf by the door. The title read _Harry Potter and the Order of the __Phoenix_. She looked up at me and blushed a little.

"Oh, that... Yeah, I'm a huge fan... See, I keep that one because for the longest time, it was the only one I didn't read, but then when I finally did, it turned out to be my favorite."

I nodded. "Seems like a good series, I've never read it, or watched it." After a few seconds of silence, I looked up at my fiance.

Her mouth hung open, her second shoe halfway onto her foot. She slipped it on and straightened up. "We're going to have some serious relationship problems now."

We laughed together as we set off for my house, Rebekah slinging her ever present purse over her shoulder, containing a change of clothes and some shorts.

Time seemed to slow down, thankfully. I loved being around her... She was such a mellow change from my crazy, shifting world. The sun sank slowly beneath the hills as we walked, Dakota lunging and slowing at her leisure, not caring about the pace of her walkers. Hands intertwined, we eventually, and regrettably, reached my house.

When I opened the door, the ringing silence of an empty house greeted us. I grinned down at her as she released Dakota into the house ahead of us, then picked up my love bridal style.

She laughed breathlessly, airily, and kissed me willingly.

Then there were footsteps. I hastily set Rebekah down, jarring her slightly in my hurry.

"Ouch! Oh, no, I'm fine..." She glanced up the stairs at the darkness. There was a glimmer of golden light from a room light snapping on. "Hello?"

Ouka scampered into view, a bat in her hands, held high. Her eyes got a little wider when she saw who was standing in her doorway. Her arms went limp. "Oh, hello, Rebekah-senpai."

"You know you can call me Bekah-chan, even in the evening." She smiled, confused. Ouka was usually so excited to see her, and now... She just seemed so tense... "What's wrong?"

"Oh, no I know that... I just... I didn't expect to see you so soon, let alone so late at night... Are you... Are you staying?" She blushed profusely, "Overnight, that is..."

Rebekah's face was on fire, lit up like a red neon sign. "Uh, yeah, I am... But, it's not like... Like we're..." She gestured uselessly to me, and I shook my head, nearly in tears from keeping in my laughter. Rebekah looked at me, almost insulted, trying to find the right words.

"No, little sister, nothing like that. Simply a sleep-over, nothing more." I looked up at her suspicious face. She registered the truth in my eyes and nodded slowly.

"'Kay... Well... I'll hear you if anything... ODD... happens..." She stepped carefully back into her room.

Rebekah and I looked at each other and laughed. So much for anything frisky.


	12. Chapter 12

I sat facing Takashi in front of the fire. I was sitting cross-legged in front of him, his legs wrapped firmly around me. He'd taken Dakota and Sutokiz outside and attached them to chains to play. While he was out he'd grabbed a pair of sticks that were long enough to reach the blazing fireplace from our comfortable hearthrug without burning ourselves.

A bag of marshmallows at our knees, we sat and chatted for hours about the host club, school work, and colleges. I think the conversation started around Mori mentioning how Tamaki would have done something similar to what Ouka did when he saw us. It spiraled from that into critiques about each individual host; even the twins were evaluated separately. (Funny, I was starting to learn how to tell them apart.) After that we talked about our finals, which had been hardest, which easiest. My lovely fiancé thought that history and geography were the easiest, while I argued that pre-calculus and chemistry were much better. We both agreed though that the physical education test was useless. For a moment between the subjects of tests and college, there was silence. Neither of us was sure what to think. He knew where he was going... The biggest fear we had was that we'd be apart for too long.

When this fact was spoken, a somber hush fell over us. Neither knew what to say. I sighed and leaned forward, placing my head on his chest and pulling my knees up to my own. He kissed my head and set his chin on me. He whispered something.

"Hm?" I hadn't heard it.

"I wish you could come with me..."

We'd already looked into his college and seeing about me going to the same one. It wouldn't work, if not strictly for the fact that there were no majors that would agree with managing my father's company.

I sighed heavily, "I know... Me, too... But hey," I looked up at him hopefully, "Let's not worry about that right now. Let's enjoy break together, 'kay?" He smiled and kissed me lightly.

"You're right." And that was the end of that. For the next 5 hours we talked straight into the night, the only lull in the conversation being when one of us would start to drift off. Eventually, Takashi set his head on my shoulder and sighed deeply. He didn't say anything, but I sort of knew what he meant. Then, a moment later, I realized he was asleep.

A little shocked that I wasn't the first to cave, I threw down some blankets and pillows behind him, trying not to jostle him. He stirred a bit as I tipped him gently back, off of me, but didn't try to wake himself up as I settled myself down next to him. He wrapped his arms around my waist while I draped more blankets over us both, snuggling into his chest willingly. It was nearly four in the morning, and I drifted easily, the fire next to us still blazing.

I woke to blinding sunlight, a cold pile of ashes, and the sound of someone frying bacon.

A slight figure in the kitchen bustled around, grabbing different pots and pans, keeping everything from burning. Her pink house slippers slid around in circles, giving me a small headache from trying to watch. I tried to snuggle back down into Mori's chest, but he was waking up as well. It made it a lot harder to curl up in his strong abdomen when he was stretching. I pouted.

"Ouka, what are you doing?" I looked up at the petite figure, and realized my fiance was talking to his own sister.

"Oh, nothing big brother, I just thought I'd make you guys some food. I know you went to bed really late last night and all." She smiled and dumped some unrecognizable food onto a plate. My eyes still being fairly crusted shut with sleep, I couldn't make out much at all. "I made you some bacon, Rebekah-san! I know it's pretty big in America!"

Squinting through the curtain of crust on my eyes, I smiled. "Thanks, Ouka-chan." I sat up, elbows on knees, rubbing my eyes clear. Mori stayed stretched out on the floor beside me. Handsome or not, athlete or wimp, fiance or no, he was still a teenager, and wanted his sleep as much as the rest of us. He shifted a little, trying to get more comfortable, a moan slipping through his lips as he felt his muscles flex.

"Morning, beautiful." I smiled as he sat up, leaning to kiss me right beneath my jaw. Still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he didn't realize that his shirt was caught on his chest, revealing most of his abdomen. He set his elbow on his knee and looked at me keenly. "What are you staring at me for?"

I blushed. I hadn't realized I was staring. "Oh, you know, fine art catches my eye easily." A sound like gagging drifted toward us as we kissed from the general direction of the kitchen. I felt my love's lips form a smile around my own.

"Don't worry," He called to her, "You'll be in a position like this someday." She laughed and called back to us that breakfast was ready.

"If, that is," She added slyly, "You two are done using your mouths...?"

Laughing, Mori fixed his shirt and gave me his sweater to wear, and we headed off to the kitchen.

It was weird to have an actual Japanese breakfast with my favorite foods. Not weird to have my favorite food, not weird to have Japanese food, but to have them together. For some reason I found it really funny to see a platter of sausage sitting next to the rice bowl.

While we were eating, we talked about the holiday. Ouka mentioned that their parents would be out for the whole two weeks, and she'd be gone with friends for a couple nights. I glanced over at Takashi. He was looking at me out of the corners of his eyes. I smiled and attacked the eggs and rice on my plate again.

I had a feeling I wouldn't be sleeping much.


	13. Chapter 13

***Sorry for the crap updating schedule, guys. I really have been busy lately, but hey, what are ya gonna do, right? Anyway, there isn't much left until the weeeddinggg! I don't think I'll do any lemon chapters before the end, unless you guys really want it. Feel free to message me or review in the form of a request if you guys wanna see something happen, or have an idea. I will credit you if I use it, too, of course! So have fun reading, I hope you keep with Rebekah and Takashi till the end. (THERE MIGHT BE AN EPILOGUE. MAYBE. BUT IT'D BE SHORT, LIKE THE HARRY POTTER KIND. So look for that eventually. Haha)***

My little sister had her packed bags sitting next to the door, awaiting the time when she'd be off to her friend's house. It had been two days since our first night of break together, and Ouka was ready to leave to hang out with friends, which would give Rebekah and I four days to ourselves. As in no interruption, not parents, no rules. Completely. Alone.

I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to contain myself if the need arose.

The girls were upstairs, making sure that Ouka had everything, and Rebekah was going to do her hair and makeup for her, apparently just because. I sat downstairs sulking; arms crossed and feet up on a chair, knowing that in reality, Ouka was going to be seeing a boy while she was out. She was going to a girl's house, but I was fairly sure that she was sweet on her friend's older brother. I didn't like that Rebekah was supporting it, but what was I going to do? She was only a year and a half younger than me, and I was getting married in a few months. I didn't exactly have a valid argument to keep her single.

While I waited, I played back the last few days in my head. I watched in my head as the two girls I loved the most each beat me in board games, practiced and played with me in the dojo, cooked meals, and played with the dogs. Ouka and Rebekah got along famously, and I honestly couldn't see how life could get any better during those times when we were all together. It hadn't been bad. Really fun, actually.

The girls laughed upstairs, followed by a flicker as they turned off the bathroom lights, and a flurry of footsteps as my fiance lept down the stairs. She skittered over to the dining table, where I sat lounging. She zipped around me and covered my eyes. Then loudly announced to the pretty much empty house. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" I could hear the smile in her voice as she continued, "PLEASE WELCOME, THE ONE, THE ONLY- OUKAAA MORINOZUKAAA!" She let her hands slide down to my neck, and rubbed her thumbs around the back edge of my jaw, which hung loosely when I saw my sister.

I only barely recognized her. Her long black hair didn't hang in a ponytail, or straight down her back like usual. Instead, Rebekah had curled it gently so that it flowed and cascaded down her back in swirls. Her bangs didn't blend into her hair now, but swooped across her face like a thick set of feathers. Her eyes were still blue, but not so icy as normal. The same shade, but somehow warmer. I suspected it had something to do with the earthy, neutral shadows and accents Rebekah had used to highlight her eyes. She had dressed casually, flowing jeans that were tighter on her thighs and got loose around her calves. Her sneakers peeked out from underneath the heap of material that gathered there. She wore a pink tank-top and a denim jacked that only reached to the bottom of her ribs. She looked simple, but fabulous.

I stood and walked over to her, grasped her shoulders, then carefully embraced her. I pulled back and looked at her gently made-up eyes, "You look amazing. He's lucky." She flushed, not sure how to respond, but smiled at me all the same. She knew there was no point in denying anything, when I knew something, there wasn't a way of getting away from the truth.

There was a knock at the door. I glanced at it before turning back to my younger sister. "Well, that's your cue. I'll help you take your bags out."

We did just that, and as we walked out, I saw a black car in our driveway, a girl around my sister's age stood in front of our door, her slightly older brother leaning against the car outside. Evidently, it was his, and he drove. He looked familiar, though I couldn't place where I'd seen him before. Blonde hair swathed his head, like something out of an American surfing magazine. His green eyes seemed familiar in a way, too. His little sister was clearly Japanese, he was clearly not. Maybe step-siblings? Maybe Rebekah had a relative that looked like him. It was killing me that I couldn't tell where I'd seen him.

I was tempted to talk to him, but thought better of it. If I knew Ouka, she hadn't made her feelings clear at all yet. I shouldered her bags and walked with her and her friend to the car, where the boy popped the trunk and helped me arrange them. I smiled at him, he was good mannered enough.

I walked back up to the house and turned in the doorway. I lifted my hand in farewell to my sister, not acknowledging the arms that wound themselves around my waist until it was out of sight. I dropped my wave to cover my fiance's hands. She whispered in my ear, "It's okay... Even if she is growing up, she's going to be fine. She has you for a big brother." She kissed me below my ear and started to drag me back inside by the waist. "Besides... We're all alone now, right?"

Oh, that mischievous girl...

I smiled, and gladly shut the front door while we stumbled up the stairs as quickly as our feet would take us.


	14. Chapter 14

His lips twisted into a smile beneath me. I giggled as he slid his fingers over my bare waist, tickling me lightly as he went. I twisted my arms around his neck a little closer, pressing my chest to his. He sighed into my mouth, his sweet breath mingling with my own. The bed creaked underneath us as I shifted, on my knees, legs wrapped around his waist. I rubbed his neck with my thumb, feeling his adam's apple bob underneath it.

He moaned and I opened my eyes. He was staring at me with his own chillingly beautiful gray ones. I pulled back from his mouth, full of regret.

"Too far?" He asked.

"Mmm... Yeah." I sighed, "I know it doesn't make sense... It just doesn't feel right..."

"I know," He smiled.

We clambered off the bed, me still fully clothed. Mori slipped his shirt back on, taking my hand and leading me back downstairs. I sighed again. I hated myself a little, but it wouldn't feel right if we... Ya know... _DID_ it now. Not so soon before we were going to be married. I'd always had the moral thinking that you should keep your virginity until you were married, so it just felt wrong to break that now. Even if we _had_ already... Well, you know what I mean.

"Babe?" Takashi was looking back at me. I blinked, still half absorbed in my thoughts. He laughed at me and tugged my hand downstairs. "Come on," he crooned in his deep voice, "I want to show you something."

Suffice to say I followed willingly. Sometimes that voice had the same lulling, soothing affect as Morgan Freeman's. It was like velvet.

He lead me through the sitting room and kitchen, through the dining room, and out the front door. A little annoyed, as I didn't have shoes on, I asked him where we were going.

"Oh, just somewhere. I thought you'd like to see it." He kept walking along the paved path that lead to the dojo. "I've never shown it to anyone, actually."

"Not even Ouka?"

"Not even _Mikskuni_."

I smiled. It must be _very_ special...

"Okay... So then it's part of the dojo? Or... Behind it?" I struggled to think of where this mystery place could possibly be.

"No, but we need to go to the dojo to get there if it makes you feel any better." He chuckled lightly at me.

"Well... Alright. So tell me... What's this secret place for? Is this where you learned all your dance moves or something? Because I know those weren't developed in public."

We took a moment to laugh before he responded, "No... Well sometimes. But mostly, I use it to think. Mull over life, the whole sentimental, philosophical deal I guess." We stepped over a small stream on a bridge that led to the dojo, and Takashi pointed at the slippers there. I slid a pair on, then allowed him to lead me from there, hands in pockets, walking lazily.

"All right, so, a thinking spot. What do you think about?"

"You, mostly. Hard not to. This spot is where I came when I first met you... I assume you felt that spark the first day as well?" I smiled and nodded so that he'd go on, "Well I came here to try and figure out my feelings. Then, this is where I decided that I had to meet your family and vice versa. After that, I thought about what your dad told me about your past, and how I should act with all of that-"

I stopped walking. "What?"

"What? What's wrong?"

"My dad... He told you about... About my-!?"

"Oh, God, I never told you about that, did I...?"

I spluttered, "NO! Those were the _worst_ years of my life! How could he do that to me!? And you! How could you not tell me that he told you about it all!?"

"Hey, stay calm for a minute here. I don't see you _any_ differently because of it, do you hear me?" He grabbed my shoulders, "It doesn't make a difference if you didn't always look like this. It doesn't make a difference that you have scars I don't, okay?"

My face was heating up now, though, and I couldn't stop myself from what I felt like was the truth, "But I was a _mess_. A horrible, fat, depressed mess. And that was why I came here! I didn't ever want to relive that pain! That disgusting state I was in! I hated it, and that's why I left! How could he bring that back...?"

Takashi seemed to finally realize that I wasn't mad at him and pulled me into a hug. He traced light circles in my back for a while while I got my anger under control. After what seemed like an eternity, I pulled away from him nonchalantly. "Well... Let's go, then."

"What?"

"To your oh-so-secret place?" I gave him a watery smile.

"Oh. Right." He took my hand and carried on like nothing had happened. Which, of course, was one of my favorite things about him.

He picked up right where he left off in the conversation as well. "Yeah, so this is also where I decided that I should propose to you. Both times, actually." We veered suddenly off the forest path and into the brush, Takashi swiping branches out of our way as we went.

"Yeah?" I smiled and teased him, "Is this where you decided that your first attempt was lousy?"

"Aha... Yeah, actually... It is." We laughed, "Anyway, here it is!" He pushed a few large fern fronds out of the way for me to see the entrance to his beloved sanctuary.

It was... Beautiful.


	15. Chapter 15

***Hello all! So, I get the privilege of going to anime Midwest on July 6th! This'll be my first con and all... I hope I see some fans of the Tough Love saga while I'm there! I'm HOPEFULLY gonna be dressed as Misuzu from 'The Refreshing Battle in Karuizawa'. Cosplay is like, 95% done. If I'm not cosplaying, I'm gonna just go in a sweater and shorts(for some reason I can handle cold legs, but not cold arms). Lol. Anyway, If anyone is dressed up as Mori, I want pics. I want pics bad. BAD I say! :P***

The beautiful canopy I loved so much cast a shifting golden dapple pattern on the moss strewn ground. I kept hold of the ferns that blocked the entrance, thick tangles of bushes, trees and other plants forming a makeshift circular wall around it. There was a humongous willow tree swaying gently above us, it's roots sticking out of the ground, mottling the earth and forming natural seats among the knots. I grasped Rebekah's hand and led her over a tricky patch, stopping a few feet into the large natural dome. The shade from the canopy kept us cool, but let in enough light to reveal a sparkling, completely clear pool of water, a few feet deep at best, with no fish or plants. The colored pebbles scattered at the bottom shined from years of water wear, making the swaying pool look that much more inviting. There was a gap in the tangled wall where the inlet was, flowing gently into the pond, and an outlet somewhere to the left of it.

Rebekah's hand loosened around mine, and she walked over to the pond, glancing back at me with a grin before throwing off the slippers and splashing her way into the middle of it. She laughed wildly, flung her arms out and spun in a circle, cloth shorts showing off perfect legs.

I stood back and watched her mess around for a while, just enjoying being there with her.

"HEY!" I let her splash me, "Get in here, handsome!"

Smiling, I kicked off my own slippers and joined her in the chilly water. For a moment she stood and just looked at me, and vise versa. Then I splashed her, and the war began.

Twenty minutes later, we sat breathless, soaking wet, and completely carefree on one of the willow's roots. Basking in the sun was much, much easier when we were on break from school with no work or clubs or family to worry about. She laughed when I pointed this out to her, though at first I didn't understand what was funny.

"Oh, it's just that... It's winter break!" She explained, "I mean, back in the states, if you went for a dip in a cold pond during winter break, you'd probably end up in the hospital with hypothermia!" I laughed with her. I guess growing up in a different climate made for quite a change when you move.

After a moment of quiet, my hand absently tracing circles on her knee, I spoke quietly, "Hey... About what your dad told me and all... I'm sorry I never told you... I knew when he told me that it wasn't something to take lightly."

"Nah," She waved a hand casually, "I suppose you had to know eventually. I would have rather you heard from me, but heck... If I hadn't told you by now... Who knows when I would've, right?" She beamed at me.

"Right. You know, it's nearly lunch time, want to head back?"

She nodded and stood. We slid out sandals on, and I hoisted her onto my back, shrieking, before speeding off into the forest.

Back at the house, Rebekah had her small, green iPod plugged into some speakers, playing an American song I didn't know. Not that it mattered. Hearing her sing along was okay by me no matter what the situation.

"Make ya say- 'Oh my! Feels just like I don't try!'"

I whipped lunch together, smiling faintly as she danced behind me.

"Look so good I might die! All I know is-"

I watched her hips sway and arms wave in the reflection of the glass from the window in front of the oven.

"Everybody loves me!"

Waiting for the food to cook, I stood with my back to the counter, lounging and watching her dance and sing.

"Get down, swayin' to my own sound, flashes in my face now-"

I stepped into her erratic dance, taking hold of her hands and swinging her around.

"All I know... Everybody... Ha ha! Takashi!" She shouted delightedly as we swirled around the kitchen, not caring for the rest of the world.

Five minutes and some hurried eating later, my living room couch was occupied by yours truly and his fiance. Rebekah rested her head in my lap while I drew circles on her neck with her own hair.

"Did you ever think this would happen?" She sprung suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Did you ever think that you'd meet a girl who made you weak in the knees? Want to sing? Sporadically dance? Did you ever imagine us?"

"Not really... Not until my first year in high school. It was then that I first looked around at people who were 'couples' and thought that I'd be in that position some day. But I never thought about how... Great it could be. Then you came along... You changed that."

She smiled and lightly hit my cheek. "Cheese ball." I rolled her off the couch and sat on top of her, tickling her sides until her mad giggling became embarrassing spurts of laughter, then shrieking.

"OKAY! OKAY, I GIVE! I GIIIVE!" I kissed her, dropping the attack. "Ah heh... Jerk..." She kissed me again and slid her finger from my belly button down in a smooth, quick stroke. I froze, then scrambled off of her.

She laughed at me, trying to do it again.

She'd found my only weakness in the world when we'd spent the night in Tokyo... Funny thing was, that was the same night that weakness developed. It was crazy how much this ticklish, tremendously beautiful girl could change me... Could influence me...

Could love me.


	16. Chapter 16

***La dee daaa... My updating suuucks... Anywaysss...***

My mission was simple:

Do the job.

Don't get caught.

I slid off the couch gradually, attempting not to wake my sleeping lover, and silently sprung into the kitchen. I whipped the door of the fridge open, snatched the can of whipped cream, and slunk back to the couch. Luckily, his hand was draped over the edge, palm up, fingers curled slightly. I watched his chest rise and fall for a moment before I filled his palm with the rich white junk food. I did my best to cushion the noise of the pressurized can with my hand, but there's not much you can do. A flicker of movement. I stopped for a full minute, making sure he didn't wake, before setting the can down and carefully getting back on the couch.

For a few minutes, I sat, making sure that he wasn't awake, before I acted. He was lying face-up, one hand behind his head, one hand hanging off the couch. I sat with my legs on either side of his, sitting up, ready to strike. I leaned down slowly, gripping a piece of my hair. Twirling and caressing his nose with it, I sat back up and waited for him to pie himself in the face.

His hand twitched.

It moved.

It hit me in the face.

Mission failed.

He laughed at me as I licked the cream from my chin, having should have known that would have happened.

"When did you wake up?"

"The moment you got up. I tried to warn you when you sprayed it in my hand... You're so naïve sometimes." He smirked.

"Ha ha... Whatever!" I sprayed some whipped cream on his lips and licked it off, taunting him. "Now you can just-"

_Ding dong_

"Honestly...?" Mori shifted under me. At first I thought he was trying to get up, and I attempted to get off, but he ended up just picking me up like a toddler to come answer the door with him.

Smiling and laughing, we opened the door to a bright, bubbling Tamaki, and a grumpy looking girl who obviously didn't want to be there.

"Oh," I said, "Tama, Haruhi, hey." Mori was back to his straight faced, one-word-answer self, and said nothing. "Uh, come in, I guess."

Mori set me down, still in my sleep shorts and a tank top. He was also in pajamas. Tamaki and Haruhi, however, looked like they'd been on a date.

"Is this a bad time? Because I still have some shopping to do and I could really do with some new shoes-"

"Nonsense, Haruhi, my silly princess! They've just invited us in, let's go!" Tamaki grabbed the protesting girl by the hand and dragged her into the traditional Japanese house.

Mori looked at me and said simply. "Going out." I nodded, by now knowing how to interpret his less-than-three's(as I call them), which are his answers in three words or less. Going out meant that _we_ were going out, so I should go get ready. Having already showered, I bowed to our guests and shot off to change and put a face on. Ten minutes later, I stood downstairs, zipping up knee-high brown boots. I wore a gray hat and the necklace Mori had given to me last year, along with a black, slim cut vest over a cream colored t-shirt. It had puffs on the sleeves, and the material clumped around my waist, hiding the waist of my jean shorts. I threw on some eyeliner and mascara just to make sure I didn't look too tired. Mori switched with me, and I talked to Tamaki and Haruhi while he went upstairs to change.

"So, are you two _together_ now? I've been sort of out of the loop here!" I rubbed the back of my neck under my curled hair, wondering if I was going too far for having only just met Haruhi that month.

"Yes, we are." She smiled at me, and in that moment I wondered how on Earth anyone hadn't noticed she was a girl. Even with her hair being that short, and having such a small chest, she radiated femininity. Or maybe it was just Tamaki...

Who was, of course, swooning over her. I rolled my eyes playfully, giving her that look like- 'I know how it is.'

She laughed with me at our shared pity party, and at the confusion that overtook Tamaki.

"What are you laughing about!?" He continuously asked us until it was hard for either of us to breath anymore. Takashi came down the stairs again after only a minute or two, pulling a black vest over a cream shirt, now wearing jeans and brown shoes. I smiled at him.

Tamaki, ever the moron, came in with a shocked, "Wow! You guys are matching! Haruhi, darling, we should've done that!"

"No way! You're nuts." Haruhi was wearing white jeans, sandals, and a flowing pink shirt with a small white lace pattern on the chest that helped to distract from the lack of chest. On the other hand, Tamaki was in black boots, black skinny jeans, a white shirt with the name of a J-pop band on it that I didn't recognize, and a black leather blazer. I smiled at the two and dragged my purse and my handsome pair out of the house, waiting for the other two to exit before locking up. I glanced around for a car.

"Tama-chan, you didn't drive here? How unusual..."

He smiled at me and said, "Oh, it's over at Haru-chan's place. We decided to walk here! It's not too far, actually. So we were thinking about going on a short vacation... Just the hosts... What do you two think?"

"Oh, that sounds good! Where?" I asked.

"Pension Misuzu!" He shouted joyfully.

"Uh... Why does that sound familiar again?"

Mori glanced down at me and said, "Karuizawa. Arai. Hikaru."

"Oh, I remember that story! Yeah, I'd like to go. I haven't been to many good places in Japan yet, anyway."

Haruhi looked a bit miffed. "Just so long as no one mentions times past, I'm fine. I assume Mori-senpai and the others filled you in on everything that happened while you were gone?"

"Ha! Yes, they did. Sounds like you all had some pretty fun times without me!" I smiled at her. "So how is it? Acting like a boy and all?"

"Oh, well it's not hard. You just wear the uniform, ruffle it up a bit, and say cheesy things to the girls. You're a host though, why ask me what it's like?"

"Hmph! The 'cheesy'-ness thing explains a LOT about you, darling," I said to Mori, "He says the cutest things. But yeah, I'm a host. Mainly, though, the girls would come to me for advice on the guys. You've seen it happen!" I scratched the back of my neck, "There was only one other guy in the school interested in me, and he wasn't really my type."

"What?" Came Mori's voice.

"Really?" Haruhi was astonished.

Tamaki chimed in with an incredulous "Are you serious?"

"Uh," I was shocked at their responses, "Well, yeah. Kira Shibasaki liked me for a bit, but that wasn't going to happen. And now that I think about it, I... I... I, uh- why are you all staring at me like that?"

Takashi was rubbing his temple slightly, looking at me the same way Kyoya looks at Tamaki; like a moron.

Haruhi simply looked curious, like she couldn't really believe what I was saying.

Tamaki, however, was aghast. "Are you KIDDING!? Boys were all over you, Rebekah-senpai! How did you never see that!?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, Dybowski-senpai, even when you were at school for just those few weeks before school ended for break, I could tell that a lot of those guys had some feeling for you. It was written all over their faces." I blinked down at Haruhi, blunter than any other person I'd ever met, and thought back to my first days of hosting. It was true. A lot of guys had blushed and waved and smiled at me when I was doing my sexy girl routine... How had I never noticed?

_Oh,_ I thought, _That's right. There was a tall, strong, silent protector with me at all times. Poor other guys never stood a chance, I didn't even see them!_

I laughed at my own naivety, realizing that just a little while earlier Takashi had been mocking me for just that.

"I guess you guys are right... I wonder why none of them ever said anything...?" We turned a corner, quickly approaching town.

"Well, Rebekah-senpai, I can only assume that that's because of the very tall, very strong, very handsome, VERY dangerous guy attached to you 24/7!" We laughed, but Mori smiled like he knew something I didn't. I gave him a look that said, 'What do you know?'

He looked at me and smirked again, clearly portraying the message that he'd done it on purpose, that he'd kept me to himself by absorbing all my attention. I slipped my hand into his, not caring, as we strolled through town, reveling in the nice breeze.

"So, Kyoya says that you two are leaving town day after tomorrow. Where are you going?" Haruhi asked.

"What, you're leaving? Why didn't you tell me?" Tamaki asked as he swung Haruhi's hand in his own.

Mori shrugged. I smiled at the other two. "He doesn't know where we're going, so I won't say yet. However, I will say that it's one of the places I stopped in over the last half a year." Haruhi nodded, understanding the need for secrecy.

"So what's the climate like, then?"

"Oh, it's warm enough this time of year. It's going to be beautiful!" I smirked at my silent love's slight pout. No one else would notice it, but I could see it in his eyes.

Haruhi and I kept up the conversation until finally we stopped at our destination according to Tamaki. He grinned, almost sparkling, and pointed at a movie theater. "We're going there!" I looked at it skeptically. A little weird for a double date, but I didn't mind. Besides, I wanted to see the Death Note live action movie, and it was playing in 13 minutes. I glanced up at Mori. He raised his eyebrows, 'You want to go?' I smiled and nodded, gripping his hand a bit tighter. Haruhi, on the other hand, looked pessimistic.

"Tamaki-senpai, I'm not really into any of those movies..."

He rubbed circles on the back of her palm and grinned at her. "Nonsense! Let's go see the Death Note live action, I finished the anime a few days ago and I'm dying for more!"

"Tama-chan, you're a Death Note fan, too?" I was shocked. I had watched it back in the states, and Mori and I had watched on a few occasions as well so I knew he was a fan, but it really didn't seem to be Tamaki's type.

"Totally! Well, let's go then!" And with that, he dragged his less-than-excited girlfriend behind him into the theater.


	17. Chapter 17

"I guess it wasn't too bad... But I didn't understand most of it seeing as I've never seen or read Death Note before..." Hauhi yawned as we left the theater, watching the sun begin to bob toward the western horizon.

"I thought it was great!" Tamaki, ever the enthusiast, said, "I loved every bit of it!"

"I don't know..." Rebekah said, "I mean, they were all pretty much in character compared to the manga and anime, but there were some times when I questioned the actions. Also, it varied from the story line a little, but it was pretty good. I liked it." I swung her hand in my own.

"Yeah."

"Mori-senpai, the guys at the host club told me that you used to talk a lot more. Why do you only answer in a few words now? I mean, _some_times you talk more, but usually you're pretty silent."

I looked over at her, seeing as I had a reason, but had never really talked about it.

"I do talk."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "But not a lot. I don't think there have been more than two times where I've heard you speak in more than three words."

I sighed, and glanced down at Rebekah, who had both eyes on me.

The corner of my lips twitched, and I looked straight ahead again. "This is three. I guess I never really talk much because I have my mind on other things. When it comes to people I care about, you'll hear me say a few words, and see a smile. When it comes to those I _love_, I talk a lot." I looked over at the short Japanese cross-dresser. "You've never heard me talk much because I only talk a lot to Rebekah and Mitskuni. It's nothing personal. Even last year or the year before, I never talked much. I guess it's also partly because I don't have much to say. I'm always either looking after Mitskuni and this one," He patted my head, "Or observing."

Haruhi nodded, Tamaki smiled. "I guess I know how that is... Just acting different in other peoples' presences..."

We walked along in silence for a bit before Tamaki giggled a bit. Looking at him quizzically, Haruhi asked him, "What?"

"Heh... It's just that... Rebekah-senpai told us about one time when he _sang_... And once when he _danced_! It's just hard to believe!"

We laughed with him before Rebekah said simply, "Love is a crazy thing, ya know?"

Before we knew it, we were turning onto my street. We all stopped, each couple linked at the hands. "Well, it was nice to hang out. I can't wait for the host club vacation!" Rebekah waved them off. We stood until they were at the end of the block, then turned toward my house.

"So... You're not telling me where we're going?"

"No... I mean, you'll probably find out by the time we get to the airport, because it'll be on the terminal directory or whatever, but you don't know specifically, so I'll keep avoiding telling you." She grinned up at me.

I smiled, "Fine."

When we got back to the house, we began packing. Rebekah helped me throw warm weather clothes into a suitcase, along with toiletries and entertainment things. I had a carry-on bag with a camera, book, and chargers in it separate from my suitcase. Once I was packed and ready to go, we grabbed the dogs and their things, put them in a car, and were off to Rebekah's house. I left my bags by my front door, seeing as we'd be returning their before the flight tomorrow. Sutokiz and Dakota jumped around playing downstairs while we went up to Rebekah's room to pack. She had a teal suitcase already open on her bed, along with a few outfits set aside.

"Did you get this ready before you came to my place?"

"Hm? Yeah, I just whipped some stuff out," She said distractedly, trying to pack it all in the suitcase, "You packed a bathing suit, right?"

I nodded and watched while she grabbed hers. I'd gotten a new one since the waterpark... It matched hers. I'm not really sure why I kept doing that, maybe because she seemed to like it.

Once she had her clothes, hair and makeup supplies, and toiletries thrown in her suitcase; she added a few movies to the front pocket. Then she grabbed a small backpack, which she typically used as a purse, and threw in her camera and camcorder, a sketchbook and what must have been 20 mechanical pencils, a book, chargers, and her iPod.

I laughed at her, "Planning on being bored? I can make sure that doesn't happen." She blushed and grinned.

"I never really know what I wanna do until I want to do something. So I'm making sure I'm prepared! Besides, we're going to have a lot of time on our hands! Since we've both already been there, we won't have to do much sight-seeing!" She looked at me, "Oh, yeah, I checked with your mom to make sure you'd been there. That way we have more time and all."

I smiled, then grabbed her two bags and took them out to the car. I told the driver where we were going before helping Rebekah bring out the dogs. We piled into the back of the car with our pets, automatically shifting so that our shoulders were pressed together.

"We're ready." I told the driver, and turned to my fiancée, "Got everything?"

"Of course! I've got the tickets, Mitskuni is going to take the dogs, our parents are all agreed on this, we've got funds for souvenirs and food, and we're packed for four days of fun in the foreign sun, completely alone! What else do we need?" She rubbed her nose on mine, sending a light shiver down my spine.

"Mmm..." I feinted thinking about it for a moment, "More time alone under the foreign moon?" She laughed and kissed me before her phone rang in her pocket.

Confused as to who could be calling, she flipped it open and answered, "Rebekah the American, how can I help you?" She glanced up at me, "Oh, hey Kyoya... No, not yet... We're on our way to Honey's to drop off the dogs... Yeah... Ha, I know right? But yeah, Tamaki told us. Don't worry, we'll be back before the end of the week... Yeah, sure! I'll tell him... Heh, that, too! Alright, bye!"

I gave her a quizzical look, she answered the question in my face with a simple, "Kyoya wanted to make sure we were going to be back from our vacation in time for the host club vacation. They're leaving two days after we get back."

I nodded and threw my arm around her shoulder. "Maybe it'll be like Tokyo all over again... Or close enough."

She smiled. "You sly dog, you..."

Within what seemed to be seconds, we were at Mitskuni's house, leaving the dogs with him, and on our way back to my place. When we got there, Ouka was home, surrounded by the smell of cooking noodles. Ouka turned around when she heard us entering, I was carting Rebekah's bags to set them next to mine by the door. She squealed, and pranced over to her, hugging her around the middle.

"You wouldn't bel_ieve_ it, Bekah-chan!" She squirmed with happiness. I was worried by that look on her face... I'd seen it on my own before. "He said he likes me! He _likes_ me!" My heart dropped. Yep. I knew that look, alright. She hopped in a little circle in excitement before turning to me, "Are you okay with that? I mean, I know you haven't met him, but I want your approval." Her eyes wide, she begged silently for me to accept it.

After a moment, I smiled. "All right. But I want to meet him the moment we're back from our trip, whether you two are together or not." She jumped on my neck, leapt down, and zipped back into the kitchen yelling, "THANK YOU!"s and "OF COURSE YOU CAN MEET HIM!"s as she went. I sighed.

Rebekah gripped my arm lightly, "I'm proud of you. I didn't think you'd approve, knowing who he is..."

"What?" I looked down at her shocked face.

"You mean... You didn't make the connection...?"

"What connection?"

"Takashi... That boy she likes... That's Kira Shibasaki's fraternal twin, he's in our grade... Kaito...? You didn't see the resemblance?"

Suddenly I was a lot more reluctant to let Ouka date this boy.


	18. Chapter 18

***Note, I added in a small detail about Jack's past that you guys haven't seen in here and wasn't in the movie, so you're not going to really understand... But I might write a quick one-shot about that. I dunno. Lol anyway tell me if you wanna find out what happened!***

Jack shot through snow thick as butter. It tried to part in front of him, but he was simply flying too fast for it to keep up. Below him, he could barely make out the deserted towns and fields underneath the coat of snow that enveloped every inch of land. Before he knew it, he was past the east coast of the United States, and zipping over the Atlantic Ocean. His thoughts still on Pitch and his unknown collaborator, Jack didn't even notice the raging hurricane to his right, which veered around him as he approached. Mind still in a jumble of fury, he was across the shifting, churning waters of the deep and crossing over Europe. His emotions were so high that the sea itself was freezing over around the beaches. He bypassed France, finally within sight of his destination-

Italy.

For a moment he hovered over it, unsure of where his destination was, then spotted it and dropped. For a moment, all he could see through tear streaked eyes was blurriness before the shape he was looking for emerged from the landscape of snow. He dropped to the ground in front of the Temple of Roma and Amor, staring at the dome-topped cavern at the front, and it's intricate ceiling molds. Then he turned and walked away from it.

He found the ledge of the ground, cleared the snow away, and dropped the several feet to the ground beneath him. After a moment to look around and make sure he was alone, he threw a hand out to both sides and pushed the snow away from the ledge, revealing seven barred doors against the ledge, behind him. He turned around and went to the very right side, then thought. _I remember once someone told me how to get in here... I think it was the leprechaun... What was it... Oh!_ He slid down the row, counting to the seventh door, then backed up three, forward one, and back another three(which added up to 14, of course.) He stood in front of it, and whispered very gently for one so angry, "I love you, Hannah."

The door shuddered, gave a small _click_, and swung inward toward the Temple, opening the door to a dark tunnel that would have gave most people the chills. He didn't care. The sooner he met Pitch, the sooner he could kill him for what he'd done. Jack turned to the world around him, pulling the mounds of snow back in front of the doors to cover them. He backed into the tunnel, letting the door swing closed, and watched as the thick blanket of white blocked out all light from the outside. Then he turned around and began to walk.

After a few moments, he hit what felt like stairs. He reached out to the wall to guide him, and followed a spiral down and to his right. What could have been ages later, he leveled out onto solid ground again, where the cold would normally press down on oneself, chilling them to the bone. But even if cold could affect him, he wouldn't care. He was ready for anything.

Before he knew it, he was reaching a warmer climate, an inviting, golden glow reaching to him from the end of the tunnel. He noticed how contradictory this was to his emotions before pushing the thought aside to make room for thinking of how to torture these two.

His mind cut out, and suddenly he was at the door at the end of the tunnel, carved delicately with a small heart, and a single letter V. Without thought, he pushed it open, staff at the ready, prepared to attack. Jack looked around quickly, noticing a figure petting something black directly across the room for him. Pitch sat petting his nightmare with the air of someone gloating. The room he entered was so ironically different from the person who occupied it that he nearly laughed amongst the blaze of fury he felt. Surrounded by pink and red, the silk and velvet of the room looked very inviting to most. To Jack, he looked at the shades of red like blood. Hannah's blood, that they'd most likely already spilt. His mouth twitched in rage, nostrils flared, feeling a beast claw it's way up his chest and into his throat, desperate to get out- but before it could, his enemy spoke.

"I was wondering how long it would take you, Jack." Pitch smirked, "You took your time."

Jack clenched his fists, trying desperately to control his anger.

"You should have heard her scream... Wailing... Crying out for you Jack. '_Jack!_' she would cry. '_Jack! Please, Jack! Save me!_'... But you didn't come... Did you?" The Shadow King eyed him like a child to be played with. "Why did you take your time? Why didn't you save her, _Jackson_?"

With a shout of rage, Jack flung his staff at the Boogeyman, who, expecting this, melted into the shadow behind him. "COME ON, PITCH! I'M SICK OF THIS! COME FIGHT ME!"

"Oh, no, Jack... That would be giving in to pressure... And what would you have to gain from that?"

Jack shouted, tearing at his hair and stomping his foot.

"GOD DAMN YOU!" He slammed his staff down on the ground, there was a flash of blue light, and suddenly the whole room was slick with ice.

Still breathing heavily, Jack looked around, and spotted Pitch frozen against the wall to his left. Without a second thought, Jack spit at him, and turned to his right. There was a door there, with no light from underneath it. He went with his gut and surged over to it. Beyond was a short, very dimly lit corridor, which, had it been brighter, most likely would have been red. Jack didn't care. He stormed across it and reached for the handle-

Then stopped. He could hear voices. But that couldn't be right- Pitch had a single accomplice, he'd made that quite clear- so who was he-

"That's right, darling..." He recognized the voice, and knew he was positively correct in his assumptions, "You know my name... Say it for me..."

"You're..." Hannah spoke, Jack whipped the door open, "You're-"

"Cupid."

Both people in the room whipped around to look at Jack, shocked by the sudden appearance.

"Jackson!" Hannah squirmed in her night shirt and underwear, having stripped herself of other clothes before she'd been abducted. She was also red in the face. Jack found this even more infuriating, knowing that Cupid had been trying to seduce her, and most likely winning.

Cupid himself stood slowly, brushing off his suit before turning to Jack. "Ah... Jack Frost. I was wondering when I would see you." He smiled casually. "Now I see how desperate for thees girl you really are." Jack stood staring murderously at him. He wasn't going to drop his guard quite yet. He closed the door he'd entered through, locking it from the inside as he did.

"Hello, Cupido. It's been a while."

"Ah, I see you haff not forgotten my true name, yeah?"

"Of course not, Valenciao. How could I? After the last time?" Memories of the 1980's flooded back to Jack, a time he'd only shared with one person- Cupido Valenciao. Hannah looked confused, Jack made a mental note to explain the story of Cameron soon.

"Ah yes... Dear, dear Camehron. What did effer happen to her?"

"You know what happened, you smug bastard."

"Oh, now, Jack- no need to be so feisty. She died an honorable death. I must ask you though, for I long to see eef I was right een my thought process... How deed you find me?"

"It was simple." Jack replied. "Who else would know that I'd found true love? Pitch let slip. But I would've guessed you straight away anyway."

"Ees that so? Well... I will haff to speak with heem about thees."

"Good luck. He's... Chillin out, currently." Jack smirked, still coldly furious at the handsome man before him, but not wanting to show how miffed he was.

"Ees thees so...? Well... That certainly puts a damper on things... So then. What do you plan to do to me, Jack Frost?" The dark beauty adjusted his tie snobbishly before taking a couple steps toward the forever teen. "Will you perhaps, throw a snowball at me?" He grinned, and stepped so close to Jack that their faces were nearly touching. "Or make it snow?"

Jack didn't flinch. Instead, he raised his eyes to look directly into Cupid's mossy green ones. "Not quite. I'm going to kill you."

For a moment, Cupid stood there, not responding, his devious grin flickering stupidly.

"Oh but Jack-"

"And not only am I going to kill you," Jack cut him off, "I'm going to torture you. Ironically enough, in the name of love."

Cupid saw in the brilliant blue nothing to contradict this statement. He was, momentarily terrified. "And how, pray tell, do you plan to do thees?"

"Simple. I will find your weak spot, and tear it to pieces, inch by inch. And now, you're within my reach. The door is locked. If I'm correct, there's no other way out of here. You're trapped Cupid." He grabbed the flowery pink tie around the being of love's neck and pulled him down to eye level.

"And there's nothing to stop me."


End file.
